System and Method for Authenticating Called Parties of Individuals Within a Controlled Environment

ABSTRACT

A method and system are described for enhancing the security of calls made by a member of a controlled environment to an outside party, particularly when the outside party communicates via a cellular phone. An application is provided for the cellular device, which must communicate and register with a calling platform of the controlled environment. Certain elements of personal verification data are obtained by the user of the cellular device and stored at the calling platform for later reference. Calls from the inmate to the cellular device cause the calling platform to issue a notification to the user via the application. The user verifies his/her identity using the application, after which the call can be connected. As a further security measure, certain conditions can be required and periodically checked during the call to ensure the user remains verified.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 14/267,383, filed May 1, 2014, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to a system and method for identifying andauthenticating called parties and/or fund contributors of members of acontrolled environment.

Related Art

In controlled environments, such as prisons for example, member(hereinafter “inmate”) communications with individuals outside thecontrolled environment are carefully regulated and monitored. As part ofa communications system within a controlled environment, the inmate orsomebody on the inmate's behalf can set up a deposit account to be usedby the inmate to pay for telephone calls, internet access, etc. When theinmate makes a telephone call, funds can be drawn from the depositaccount.

Although a person creating a deposit account on behalf of an inmate maybe required to provide certain personal information in order to verifyhis identity and/or address, there are many alternative ways for aninmate to mask a source of funding for a particular call. For example,the inmate can use a prepaid calling card, or the call can be madecollect, both of which are substantially anonymous.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical orfunctionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of areference number identifies the drawing in which the reference numberfirst appears.

FIG. 1 illustrates an inmate calling environment according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 illustrates an inmate calling platform according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a cellular telephone according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an exemplary method forregistering a cellular phone with an inmate calling platform;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method for processing anoutgoing call by an inmate at an inmate calling platform; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method for processing callacceptance and authentication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings toillustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the disclosure.References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,”“an exemplary embodiment,” “an example exemplary embodiment,” etc.,indicate that the exemplary embodiment described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplaryembodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anexemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in therelevant art(s) to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments arepossible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodimentswithin the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the DetailedDescription is not meant to limit the invention. Rather, the scope ofthe invention is defined only in accordance with the following claimsand their equivalents.

Embodiments may be implemented in hardware (e.g., circuits), firmware,software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments may also beimplemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, whichmay be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readablemedium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting informationin a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computing device). For example,a machine-readable medium may include read only memory (ROM); randomaccess memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media;flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms ofpropagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc.), and others. Further, firmware, software, routines,instructions may be described herein as performing certain actions.However, it should be appreciated that such descriptions are merely forconvenience and that such actions in fact results from computingdevices, processors, controllers, or other devices executing thefirmware, software, routines, instructions, etc. Further, any of theimplementation variations may be carried out by a general purposecomputer, as described below.

For purposes of this discussion, any reference to the term “module”shall be understood to include at least one of software, firmware, andhardware (such as one or more circuit, microchip, or device, or anycombination thereof), and any combination thereof. In addition, it willbe understood that each module may include one, or more than one,component within an actual device, and each component that forms a partof the described module may function either cooperatively orindependently of any other component forming a part of the module.Conversely, multiple modules described herein may represent a singlecomponent within an actual device. Further, components within a modulemay be in a single device or distributed among multiple devices in awired or wireless manner.

The following Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments will sofully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, byapplying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modifyand/or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments,without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit andscope of the disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modificationsare intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents ofthe exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of theteachings herein.

Although the description below is made with respect to a prison facilityor other controlled environment, the disclosed systems and methods canbe used in any communication environment.

Inmate Calling Environment

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an inmate calling environment 100according to an exemplary embodiment. In the inmate calling environment100, an inmate of the controlled environment makes a telephone call viaan inmate telephone 110. The inmate telephone 110 communicates with aninmate calling platform 120.

The inmate calling platform 120 manages several aspects of the call andcall processing, including call routing, user authentication, billing,monitoring, etc. After processing the signals received from the inmatetelephone 110, the inmate calling platform 120 transmits those signalsto the telephone 170 of a called party via a telephone network 150.

In embodiments, any of the various connections of the inmate callingenvironment 100 can be VoIP, and that the inmate telephone 110 can be awireless, macro-cellular, or personal telephone.

In an embodiment, the called telephone 170 is a cellular telephone thatreceives the signals from the telephone network 150 via a base station160 connected to the telephone network 150. When the called telephone170 is a cellular telephone, conventional called party identificationmay easily be subverted. Specifically, even as little as 20 years ago,conventional landline telephones dominated mainstream use and wereregistered with a person's name and a billing address that typicallymatched their residential address. With this information, called partiescould easily be identified.

However, this registration process can easily be subverted with theadvent of cellular telephones. As one example, cellular telephones caneasily be registered in the name of one person, and physically owned byanother. As another example, more recently, disposable cellulartelephones commonly referred to as “burners” have become popular,especially among drug dealers and other criminals. These burners can bepurchased and prepaid in cash and do not require any registration oridentity verification.

Because of the anonymity of many cellular telephones, conventionalinmate calling environments are unable to acquire any information ofcalled parties beyond their phone numbers. Specifically, provided that aparticular number is not on an inmate's “blacklist” (e.g., a list ofprohibited contact numbers for that particular inmate), the inmate isgenerally permitted to call that particular number. Further, althoughconventional systems request permission to complete the call from thecalled party, this request typically amounts to nothing more than asingle key press (e.g., “#”). As such, calls are permitted between theinmate and anonymous persons without acquiring any identifyinginformation of the called parties.

To address this situation, the exemplary calling environment 100includes an inmate calling platform 120 to enhance data gathering andsecurity regarding called telephones, as described below.

Called Party Identification

In order to facilitate called party identification, the inmate callingplatform 120 requires cooperation from a cellular telephone before callscan be placed. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an inmate callingplatform 200 according to an exemplary embodiment. In an embodiment, theinmate calling platform 200 includes an I/O module 210, a callprocessing module 220, a notification module 230, an authenticationmodule 240, a memory module 250, and a registration module 260, andoptionally includes a billing module 270 and a monitoring module 280,and may represent an exemplary embodiment of the inmate calling platform120.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a device 300 according to anexemplary embodiment. In an embodiment, the device 300 includes anapplication module 310 (that includes a user verification module 312, auser authentication module 314, and a notification processing module316), a biometric module 320, a user interface module 330, an electronictext communication module 340, a camera module 350, a display module360, and a device memory module 370, and may represent an exemplaryembodiment of the cellular telephone 170.

A system for identifying called parties will now be described relativeto FIGS. 2 and 3.

Outside Party Registration

As previously mentioned, one goal of the present disclosure is toacquire identifying information of a particular called party. One way toachieve this goal is to restrict inmate calls to or from cellulartelephones unless those cellular telephones and their users have beenpre-registered with the inmate calling platform 200. Thepre-registration involves the cellular telephone user submitting certainpersonal information to the inmate calling platform 200 for storage andlater reference. In embodiments, the registration process describedbelow is initiated either upon the outside number first being calledfrom the prison facility, or upon the outside number first placing acall to the prison facility. In an embodiment, in either scenario, thecall processing module 220 places the inmate on hold (or delay callconnection) while at least a portion of the registration process takesplace, and then connect the user with the inmate following thecompletion of that portion.

In order to perform this registration, as well as many other functionsas will be described herein, the cellular telephone user downloads amobile application (e.g., an “app”) that handshakes and communicateswith the inmate calling platform 200. As shown in FIG. 3, theapplication module 310 of the device 300 includes the functionality ofthe app. Device 300 can be, for example, a cellular telephone orsmartphone.

Upon installation and loading of the app, the app performs an initialregistration of the user. For example, the app is pre-registered withthe specific controlled environment or prison of the inmate or thedesired controlled environment(s) is selected from a list. Onceselected, the app prompts the user via the display module 360 for one ormore pieces of identifying information, which device 300 acquires usingthe various hardware capabilities common among cellular telephones andsmartphones.

For example, in an embodiment the application module 310 prompts theuser to input various biometric data using the device's biometric module320. The biometric data capable of being acquired will be dependent onthe hardware capabilities of the biometric module 320, but may includeone or more fingerprints, a retinal scan, and/or a voiceprint, amongothers.

In an embodiment, the application module 310 prompts the user to input apassword and/or personal identification number (PIN) to be associatedwith that user. Upon being prompted, the user could interface with theuser interface module 330 in order to enter the password/PINinformation.

In an embodiment, the application module 310 prompts the user to submita photo of his/her face using the camera module 350. The facial photo islater be used for facial recognition purposes, etc. In an embodiment,the application module 310 also requests the user to capture an image ofa picture ID using the device's camera module 350. This can beparticularly useful because most picture IDs include some form of adescription of the person, as well as a known address of that person. Asmost current picture IDs include some form of a barcode, in anembodiment, the application module 310 prompts the user to capture apicture of the barcode, which is then analyzed for identifyinginformation. In an embodiment, the application module 310 provides theoption to the user of capturing an image of a utility bill or otherpiece of mail with their name and address printed thereon.

Once the application module 310 has received a predetermined amount ofpersonal verification data from the user, the user verification module312 of the application module 310 connects to the inmate callingplatform 200. The user verification module 312 packages the user'spersonal verification data, and transmits that data to the inmatecalling platform 200. In an embodiment, the user verification module 312transmits the personal verification data together with at least one of adevice phone number and a device identification number associated withthe cellular telephone of a user.

At the inmate calling platform 200, incoming and outgoing communicationspass through the I/O module 210. The call processing module 220 performsgeneral information processing and routing. Therefore, as the userverification module 312 connects with the inmate calling platform, theinitial request is routed through the I/O module 210 and the callprocessing module 220 to the registration module 260 which performs theinitial registration of users.

The registration module 260 handshakes with the device 300 and receivesthe personal verification data from the user. Once the personalverification data is received, the registration module 260 registers theuser and the device with the inmate calling platform 200 by storing thetelephone number and/or device identification number in the memorymodule 250. The registration module 260 also stores the various piecesof personal verification information in the memory module in associationwith the telephone/device number. In this manner, the user's personalverification information and the phone device becomes registered to thetelephone number of the user. As such, future phone calls to this numberwill be known to be made to the user registered, as will be discussed infurther detail below.

Once the user has been successfully registered, the registration module260 issues a notification to the device 300 of the successfulregistration. In an embodiment, as an added level of security, theregistration module 260 causes a letter to be mailed to the addressprovided in order to confirm that the address is current. In order toperform this action, the registration module 260 notifies authorizedpersonal to generate the letter and provide the necessary information ofthe user, or the registration module 260 generates the letter (alone orin conjunction with a separate module and/or device). In thisembodiment, only after the letter has been returned to a particularaddress with certain personal verification information of the userfilled in is the successful notification transmitted to the applicationmodule 310 of the device 300.

In an embodiment, the registration module 260 provides the option orrequires that the user elect for geofencing capabilities. Geofencingpermits the user's location to be tracked before, during, and/or after acall for use by the inmate calling platform 200 in investigativefunctions. In an embodiment, the location information is tracked andcompiled by the app loaded on the device 300, and transmitted to theinmate calling platform 200 at predetermined times (e.g., the end of acall). In this manner, the inmate calling platform 200 provides usefulinformation for investigation purposes.

Once successfully registered, the device 300 is permitted to receivetelephone calls from the inmate.

Although described above as a app for a cellular telephone, in anotherembodiment, the functionality of the registration process can beembodied on a website. The user accesses the website to verify hispersonal and contact information in order to gain calling access. Inanother embodiment, the functionality of the registration process isachieved using “traditional” telephones. In this embodiment, the usercontacts an 800 or equivalent service number. Once connected to theservice number, a computer system or live agent directs the callerthrough the process of registering his account.

Calls to Registered User

Once the device 300 has been registered with the inmate calling platform200, the inmate is able to call the device 300 user. In doing so, theinmate calling platform 200 will interact with the app on the registereddevice in order to facilitate the communication.

As discussed above, one problem with conventional inmate telephone callsis that the called party is able to accept the call by a single buttonpress, without any further identifying information. In the exemplarycalling system, an inmate places a call from a local telephone within ormanaged by the controlled facility. This call is routed to the inmatecalling platform 200 via its I/O module 210. The call is received by thecall processing module 220, which first detects whether the inmate ispermitted to call the called number.

Calls placed to certain telephone numbers can be blocked for manyreasons. For example, inmates are generally restricted from callingwitnesses or judges associated with their case, victims or victim familymembers, etc. Therefore, as an initial check, the call processing module220 accesses a blocked call list from the memory module 250 associatedwith the inmate in order to determine whether the desired number isblocked. If the number is not blocked, the call processing module 220performs a subsequent check to determine whether the number isassociated with a device, such as device 300. This can be done locally,or by accessing a national/global phone number registry, etc.

If the number is not associated with a device, such as device 300, thecall processing module 220 processes the call as normal, for example, bycontacting the called party and requesting acceptance from the calledparty before connecting the call. In another embodiment, the callprocessing module 220 prompts the non-wireless user to acquire a PIN viaa different method, as discussed below. If it is determined that thephone number is associated with a device, such as device 300, the callprocessing module 220 accesses the memory module to determine if thetelephone number has been registered.

If the call processing module 220 determines that the phone number beingcalled has not been registered with the inmate calling platform 200,then the call processing module 220 causes the notification module 230to generate a notification, which the inmate calling platform 200transmits to the called number via the I/O module 210. The notificationcan be a pre-recorded voice message, an SMS text message, an emailmessage, or other notification, and is used to inform the recipient thata member of the controlled facility seeks to contact them, as well asprovide instructions as to how to acquire and install the necessary appfor communicating with the inmate. Once the notification has beentransmitted, the call processing module 220 terminates the inmate'stelephone call, and optionally provides a notification to the inmate asto the reason for the termination.

If the call processing module 220 determines that the telephone numberis registered, the call processing module 220 causes the notificationmodule 230 to generate a notification to be transmitted to the calledparty via the I/O module 210. In this case, the notification informs thecalled party that an inmate of the controlled facility seeks to talkwith the called party, and also provides the name and/or otheridentifying information of the inmate. In an embodiment, thenotification is configured to be received by the application module 310of the device 300.

The notification processing module 316 receives the notification fromthe inmate calling platform 200 and extracts the identifying informationof the inmate, as well as the indication that a call is being requested.The application module 310 causes the display module 360 to graphicallynotify the user of the device 300 that a call is being requested fromthe inmate, and prompts the user to accept or reject the call via theuser interface module 330. If the user accepts the call, the applicationmodule 310 controls the user authentication module 314 to verify theuser's identity, such as by prompting for and verifying the user's PINnumber.

In an embodiment, the application module 310 tracks a time fromnotifying the device user, and if the user fails to respond accept orreject the call within a predetermined amount of time, the applicationmodule 310 responds to the inmate calling platform 200 with a “timeout”notification. Alternatively, this timing is performed directly by theinmate calling platform 200. When the notification times out, the inmatecalling platform terminates the call.

If the user rejects the call, the notification processing module 316transmits a “call rejected” notification to the inmate calling platform200, at which time the call processing module 220 terminates theinmate's call. In an embodiment, upon rejecting a call from an inmate,the application module 310 further prompts the user as to whether theuser would like to block future calls from the inmate. The user'sresponse to this query is included in the “call rejected” notification,which the call processing module 220 uses to update its blocked numberlist.

On the other hand, if the user accepts the call, the user authenticationmodule 314 prompts the user via the display module 360 to enter his PIN.In response, the user enters his PIN via the user interface module 330,which the user authentication module 314 receives. The userauthentication module 314 authenticates the user by comparing theentered PIN to the registered PIN stored in the device memory module370. If a mismatch is detected, the user authentication module 314re-prompts the user for his PIN a predetermined number of times. Whenthe user ultimately fails to enter the correct PIN, the notificationprocessing module 316 transmits an “authentication failed” notificationto the inmate calling platform 200. The call processing module 220 thenterminates the call. In an embodiment, the call processing module 220further flags the registered phone number with a “caution” flag, whichis later referenced to indicate the need for additional security forthis number, whether by requiring call monitoring, additionalidentification information from the called party, and/or similarrequirements.

If the user authentication module 314 determines that the user hasentered the correct PIN, the notification processing module 316transmits an “authentication successful” notification to the inmatecalling platform 200. Once the call processing module 220 receives the“authentication successful” notification, the call processing module 220causes the inmate's call to be connected to the user's device. In anembodiment, the notification processing module 316 includes the user'sPIN in the “authentication successful” notification to allow the inmatecalling platform to perform an independent authentication of the userusing authentication module 240. This prevents a user of the device fromsubverting the system by tampering with the stored identificationinformation at device 300.

In an embodiment, the authentication module 314 requires alternative oradditional identification information from the user other than the PIN.Also, upon successful authentication of the user, the call processingmodule 220 causes the notification module 230 to transmit a “conditions”notification to the device 300. This “conditions” notification includesvarious conditions that the called party must satisfy in order tomaintain the call. For example, the called party may be required to keeptheir face in sight of the device's camera, may be prohibited fromallowing any other voices on the call, may be required to submitbiometric or other identifying information at intervals throughout thecall, etc. The satisfaction of these parameters is checked and monitoredby the user authentication module 314 of the device 300.

When the user authentication module 314 detects that the user has failedany of the set conditions, the application module 310 takes any ofvarious actions, including muting the line, muting the call, placing theparties on hold, and/or terminating the call. In addition, theapplication module 310 also transmits a notification to the inmatecalling platform 200 to take appropriate action, such as adding thecalled number to the blocked number list, or flagging the called numberwith a “caution” flag for increased security for future calls.

Through the cooperation of the app on the device 300 and the inmatecalling platform 200, enhanced security and monitoring is provided forcalls made to cellular telephones, smart phones, and similar devices.Further, because the app and the inmate calling platform 200 communicatethe various errors and/or other statuses between each other, they areeach able to enhance their own functionality based on the occurrencestaking place at the other.

Non-Wireless Phones

Although the above discussion is largely directed towards cellulartelephones, at least a portion of the benefits resulting from the aboveconfigurations can be achieved for non-wireless phones through. Althoughthe inmate calling platform 200 can not require a POTS phone to installan app for handshaking therewith, the platform 200 can nonethelessrequire registration of the phone for purposes of authenticating thephone during calls to or from the controlled environment.

As discussed above, upon receiving a request to place a call between aninmate and a number that has not been registered with the platform 200,the call processing module 220 makes a determination as to whether theunregistered number is associated with a cellular telephone. The abovediscussion details procedures for handling a cellular telephone.However, when the call processing module 220 determines the phone to bea non-wireless telephone, the call processing module 220 prompts theuser of the non-wireless telephone to register a PIN. In an embodiment,the call processing module 220 directs the non-wireless telephone userto a live person or computerized system for acquiring the user'spersonal information and administering the user a PIN. The registrationmodule 260 then registers the phone number with the PIN in the memorymodule 250 for later reference.

Because of the time-consuming steps that may be involved in theregistration process, and the likelihood of disconnecting from the callwith the inmate, in an embodiment the inmate calling platform 200informs the user to acquire a PIN before establishing a first call withthe user's number, but allow the first call to continue following thenotification. The inmate calling platform 200 then stores the user'snumber for future reference to bar further calls until the number hasbeen registered and received a PIN. In an embodiment, the inmate callingplatform 200 places other restrictions on the first (unregistered) call,such as by restricting the length of the call, performing livemonitoring, etc.

After the user has been registered, the call processing module 220authenticates the user upon when called or calling by requesting andconfirming the user's PIN. In this manner, the inmate calling platform200 provides a level of security relating to non-wireless telephonecalls.

Method of Registering a Phone

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart diagram of an exemplary method forregistering a cellular telephone with an inmate calling platform. In anembodiment, the app is run by the application module 310 of the device300, and registers with the inmate calling platform 200. In anembodiment, the device 300 is a cellular telephone.

When the app is installed and first run (410), the app prompts the userfor personal verification information (420). In an embodiment, the apprequires multiple pieces of personal verification information. After theapp has prompted for the personal verification information (420), theapp checks to determine whether the user has complied and providedsufficient personal verification information (425). If the user has notprovided sufficient personal verification information (425-N), then theregistration fails (430).

If, on the other hand, the app determines that the user has providedsufficient personal verification information (425-Y), the app compiles,packages, and transmits the personal verification information to theinmate calling platform (440).

At the inmate calling platform 200, the registration module 260 causesthe personal verification information to store the personal verificationinformation in the memory module 250 in association with the devicephone number and/or device identification number (450).

Optionally, the inmate calling platform 200 then requests an additionallevel of verification. In particular, the notification module 230transmits a notification to the device 300 informing him that a letterhas been sent to a home, email, or other address and requesting the userto verify that address by responding when received. If the response isnot received within a predetermined time (475-N), the registration fails(430). On the other hand, if the response is received with thepredetermined time (475-Y), the notification module 230 transmits a“success” notification back to the device 300 in order to complete theregistration.

The above description of the exemplary method is for illustrativepurposes and can be modified in accordance with any of the functionalitypreviously described with respect to the inmate calling platform 200and/or the device 300.

Method of Calling an Outside Party

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method for processing anoutgoing call by an inmate at an inmate calling platform. In anembodiment, the call is processed by the inmate calling platform 200.

In the method, an inmate of the controlled facility initiates call (505)by dialing a number to an outside (called) party. Initially, the inmatecalling platform 200 determines if the dialed number is on a block listassociated with the inmate (515). If the number is blocked (515-Y), theinmate calling platform 200 terminates the call (580). If the number isnot on the block list (515-N), the inmate calling platform 200determines if the dialed number is associated with a device, such asdevice 300 (525).

In an embodiment, if it is determined that number is not associated witha device, such as device 300 (525-N), the inmate calling platform 200processes the call as normal. For example, the inmate calling platform200 calls the recipient 530 and prompts for acceptance of the call. Ifthe call is accepted by the called party (535-Y), the inmate callingplatform 200 connects the called party to the inmate. On the other hand,if the call is rejected by the called party (535-N), the inmate callingplatform terminates the call 540.

If the inmate calling platform 200 determines that the number isassociated with a device, such as device 300 (525-Y), the inmate callingplatform 200 checks to determine whether the called number is registeredwith the system (555). If it is determined that the called number is notregistered (555-N), the inmate calling platform 200 forwardsregistration information to the called party (560) and terminates thecall (580). The registration information can be forwarded by email orother electronic message, by a pre-recorded voice message, or othersuitable method.

If the called number is registered with the inmate calling platform 200(555-Y), the inmate calling platform 200 sends a call notification tothe device 300. The inmate calling platform 200 then checks whether thePIN (or other personal verification information) has been received(575). If the PIN is not received within a predetermined time, or doesnot match the registered PIN (57-N), the inmate calling platform 200terminates the call. Alternatively, if the PIN is received within thepredetermined time and matches the registered PIN (575-Y), the inmatecalling platform 200 processes the call by connecting the inmate to thecalled party.

As discussed above, in an embodiment, the inmate calling platform 200processes all calls in accordance with the registration process. Inother words, all called numbers are checked for registration in order toprocess the calls. This omits steps (525)-(550) from the methoddescribed above.

The above description of the exemplary method is for illustrativepurposes and can be modified in accordance with any of the functionalitypreviously described with respect to the inmate calling platform 200and/or the device 300.

Method of Processing a Call

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method for processing callacceptance and authentication by a called party. In an embodiment,portions of the method are performed by the inmate calling platform 200and the device 300. In an embodiment, the device 300 is a cellulartelephone.

Upon the call being initiated by an inmate, the inmate calling platform200 transmits a call notification to the device 300 (605). The device300 prompts the user to either accept or reject the incoming call (610).If the call is rejected (625-N), the device 300 further prompts the useras to whether he would like to block future calls from the inmate (620).If the user indicates that they would like future calls blocked (620-Y),the device 300 transmits a “block” notification back to the inmatecalling platform 200 indicating that the number associated with thedevice 300 should be added to the inmate's block list (630). In thatcase, the inmate calling platform 200 will add the number to the blocklist (625) and terminate the call. Alternatively, if the user respondsthat he does not wish to block future calls (620-N), then the device 300issues a “reject” notification (622), which causes the inmate callingplatform to simply terminate the call (615).

If the user accepts the call (625-Y), the device 300 next prompts theuser for his PIN or other personal verification information (640). Uponentry of the PIN, the device 300 authenticates the user by comparing theentered PIN to a previously stored PIN (645). If the PIN authenticationfails (645-N), the device 300 reprompts (640) the user a predeterminednumber of times before terminating the call. If the PIN authenticationis successful (645-Y), the device 300 issues an “accept” notification tothe inmate calling platform 200.

Upon receiving the accept notification (and optionally also receivingpersonal verification information for independently verifying the user'sidentity), the inmate calling platform 200 transmits a “conditions”notification (655) to the device 300 setting forth the conditions thatmust be met in order to avoid call interruption/termination. The inmatecalling platform 200 then forwards the inmate's call to the device 300(665).

The device 300 processes the conditions (660) and monitors theirsatisfaction while processing the call (670) between the inmate and thedevice user.

The above description of the exemplary method is for illustrativepurposes and can be modified in accordance with any of the functionalitypreviously described with respect to the inmate calling platform 200and/or the device 300.

CONCLUSION

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims.The Abstract section may set forth one or more, but not all exemplaryembodiments, and thus, is not intended to limit the disclosure and theappended claims in any way.

The invention has been described above with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) that variouschanges in form and detail can be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, the invention should notbe limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A call processing platform for processingtelecommunications of a controlled environment, comprising: aregistration module configured to receive device identification of anexternal device and personal verification information of a user of theexternal device via an application running on the external device, andconfigured to register the external device by storing the personalverification information in association with the device identification;a call processing module configured to process a call placed by a memberof the controlled environment; and a notification module configured tocommunicate with the application.
 2. The call processing platform ofclaim 1, wherein the personal verification information includesbiometric information of the user and multi-character PIN.
 3. The callprocessing platform of claim 1, wherein the call processing module isconfigured to determine whether the number dialed by the member isassociated with a select group, and wherein the call processing moduleis configured to determine, if the number is associated with a wirelesscommunication device, whether the number is registered with the callprocessing platform.
 4. The call processing platform of claim 3, whereinthe notification module is configured to transmit a notification messageto the external device that is viewable using the application and thatrequests acceptance or rejection of the call.
 5. The call processingplatform of claim 4, wherein the notification message includes anidentification of the member.
 6. The call processing platform of claim4, wherein the call processing module is configured to connect the callto the external device after receiving an acceptance notification fromthe external device, and is configured to terminate the call afterreceiving a rejection notification from the external device.
 7. The callprocessing platform of claim 3, wherein the select group is cellulartelephones.
 8. A call processing platform for processingtelecommunications of a controlled environment, the call processingplatform comprising: one or more processors and/or circuits configuredto: receive device identification of a mobile device; receive personalverification information of a user of the mobile device; store thepersonal verification information in association with the deviceinformation; and process a call placed by a member of the controlledenvironment.
 9. The call processing platform of claim 8, wherein thepersonal verification information includes a picture identification ofthe user.
 10. The call processing platform of claim 8, wherein the oneor more processors and/or circuits are configured to communicate with anapplication running on the mobile device.
 11. The call processingplatform of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors and/or circuitsare further configured to: extract personal information of the user fromthe picture identification; and extract a locality of the userassociated with the picture identification.
 12. The call processingplatform of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors and/or circuitsare further configured to access a database associated with thelocality.
 13. The call processing platform of claim 12, wherein the oneor more processors and/or circuits are further configured to verify theuser's identity in the database based on the personal information. 14.The call processing platform of claim 12, wherein the one or moreprocessors and/or circuits are further configured to: receive financialinformation of the user; and setup an automatic payment accounted usingthe financial information.
 15. A method of processing communicationsbetween a calling platform and an external device, the methodcomprising: the calling platform: receiving a call attempt to theexternal device by a calling party; determining that a number associatedwith the external device is not blocked; determining that the number ispart of a select group of numbers; after determining that the number ispart of the select group of numbers, determining whether the number isregistered; and transmitting a registration notification or a callnotification to the external device depending on the determination as towhether the number is registered.
 16. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: in response to the call notification, the external device:prompting a user to accept or reject the call; processing a callacceptance or a call rejection based on the user's response to theprompting; and transmitting an accept or reject notification to thecalling platform based on the user's response to the prompting and theprocessing.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the processing the callacceptance includes: prompting the user to enter personal identificationinformation; authenticating the user based on the entered personalidentification information; prompting the user to enter new personalidentification information a predetermined number of times followingfailures of the authentication; and transmitting the accept notificationto the calling platform after successful authentication, the acceptnotification including the personal identification information enteredby the user.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the processing the callrejection includes: prompting the user as to whether future calls fromthe calling party should be blocked; transmitting the rejectnotification to the calling platform that includes a block flag setbased on the user's response regarding whether future calls from thecalling party should be blocked.
 19. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising: after receiving the reject notification, the callingplatform: terminating the call; and adding a device identification ofthe external device to a block list associated with the calling partybased on a block flag included within the reject notification; and afterreceiving the accept notification, the calling platform connecting thecall of the calling party to the external device.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, further comprising: after receiving the accept notification,the calling platform transmitting a conditions notification to theexternal device identifying at least one parameter that must besatisfied to avoid disruption of the call; and after the call has beenconnected, the external device monitoring at predetermined intervalswhether the parameter is satisfied and disrupting the call when theparameter is not satisfied.